Elizabethan England: Relations With Spain Flashcards

1
Q

what were Elizabeth’s main foreign policies

A

• developing and improving trade to benefit the English economy
• protecting English borders
• protecting the English throne
• avoiding war (could cost a lot of money and lead to loss of throne if English rebels support the enemy)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What was Spain provided with because it conquered Mexico and Peru in the early 1500s?

A

vast amounts of :
• crops
• silver
• gold

This also gave Spain control over trade in sugar cane and tobacco

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

problems English merchants faced

A

• Spain controlled the Netherlands which were the main route into European markets. Antwerp was very important to English trade
• Spain controlled much of the New world where there were valuable trading opportunities
• Spain control of the New world denied English traders profit-making opportunities because all trade there had to be licensed by the Spanish government.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what did English merchants do to tackle the problem of trading

A

they traded illegally without licenses and some attacked Spanish ports and shipping.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what was the consequence of Spain controlling the Netherlands and the Scheldt and Rhine estuaries?

A

It closed off one of the principal trade routes used by English traders = this reduced income and profits for English merchants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What’s the deal with Privateering
• who were they financed by
• what did they do
• sea beggars

A

• English merchants, financed by private investors, including Elizabeth herself, raided Spanish colonies as well as ships voyaging to and from the New world
• Elizabeth also encouraged Dutch rebels known as the Sea Beggars, to attack Spanish ships sailing between Spain and the Netherlands

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Francis Drake significance on privateering

A

• 1572: in one raid alone captured £40,000 in Spanish silver
• A second expedition between 1577 and 1580, involving Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe, resulted in the capture of further £400,000 of silver and gold

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What was the effects of privateering on Spain?

A

By 1580, loss of silver meant that the Spanish government in the Netherlands was bankrupt and could not afford to pay its soldiers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Explain the reasons for deteriorating relations between England and Spain due to privateering?

A

• Elizabeth, by knighting Drake demonstrated her defiance of hostility towards Spain’s commercial interests in Europe and the New world

  • Elizabeth’s actions showed her support of the financial losses suffered by the Spanish government as a result of English privateering

• For Phillip II, Drake and other privateers were seen as a pirate who needed to be removed by war if necessary.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Under Mary Tudor, Spain and England were allies.
why did Spain and England’s relationship sour when Elizabeth made England protestant?
(RELIGIOUS RIVALRY)

A

• Phillip II saw Protestantism as a threat to the authority of the catholic church
• Catholics saw Protestantism as something dangerous that needed to be stamped out
• Many English Protestants saw Spain and catholicism as a threat
• Phillip became involved in plots
• Phillip opposed Elizabeth’s religious settlement

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Why did nations of Europe become rivals over territory?

A
  • more territory meant more people, wealth and power
  • this rivalry often resulted in foreign policy that led to war
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Why was there a brutal Spanish campaign in the Netherlands under the Duke of Alba?

A

because many dutch became protestant so the brutal campaign was to restore catholicism there

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What and when was the council of blood?

A

The CoB were Spanish Catholics who executed many dutch protestants. It was founded in 1568

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What was the effect of the Spanish campaign in the Netherlands in Elizabeth’s government?

A
  • Elizabeth’s leading courtiers were protestant and they put pressure on her to help Dutch rebels
  • they saw Spain as hostile - a direct threat to English Protestantism and to England itself
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Why was Elizabeth reluctant to help the Dutch protestant rebels in the Netherlands?

A

she wanted to avoid anything that could start a war with Spain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Instead of directly getting involved in the Netherlands, she tried to apply pressure on the Spanish. How did she do this?

A

• Indirectly helping Dutch protestants resist the Spanish
• Encouraging English privateers to attack Spanish ships and colonies
• Pursuing friendly relations with France by offering a marriage alliance to the heir of the French throne, the Duke of Alencon
• by encouraging others to fight the Spanish in the Netherlands

17
Q

what was Elizabeth’s intent with pursuing friendly relations with France through a marriage alliance with Duke of Alencon?

A
  • hoped that putting pressure on the Netherlands would alarm Phillip Il enough to give the Dutch their independence back.
  • when it didn’t, she used her influence with the Duke of Alencon to encourage him to fight the Spanish in the Netherlands
18
Q

How did Elizabeth’s government decide to secretly help the Dutch protestants resist the Spanish?

A

• allowed Dutch rebel ships (sea beggars) safe passage in English ports
• it provided financial support to others fighting the Spanish, including volunteers led by John Casimir, a foreign mercenary
• English privateers (like Francis Drake) were encouraged to attack Spanish shipping and colonies in Latin America

19
Q

When and what was the Spanish fury

A

The spanish fury was where Spanish government in the Netherlands found the war there unaffordable. A lack of funds meant Spanish troops went unpaid, which resulted in the SPANISH FURY when Spanish troops looted Antwerp. This happened in 1576

20
Q

What’s the deal with the Pacification of Ghent?

A

The violence in Antwerp (the Spanish fury) united all 17 Dutch provinces, Protestant and Catholics, together against Spanish, where they drew up the Pacification of Ghent which demanded :
• all Spanish troops expelled from the Netherlands
• the restoration of political autonomy
• an end to religious persecution

21
Q

How was the pacification of Ghent properly enforced?

A

• Elizabeth sent a loan of £100,000 to the Dutch rebels and agreed to send an expeditionary force to the Netherlands to help ensure that the Pacification of Ghent was carried
• February 1577: Phillip’s brother, Don Juan arrived in the Netherlands and agreed to all the terms

22
Q

why didn’t Elizabeth plan for peace in the Netherlands fail?

A

• less than six months after agreeing with terms, Phillip sent a new army to attack the Dutch
• Elizabeth hired a mercenary, John Casimir and financed him to raise an army of 6,000 English and Scottish volunteers to help the Dutch.
- However, Casimir’s forces devasted Dutch Catholic churches, helping to persuade Dutch Catholics to make peace with Spain which strengthened Phillip II’s position in the Netherlands
• the duke of Parma, who had been sent to the Netherlands by Phillip II, was a far more effective military leader than Don Juan and the Spanish soon had the upper hand

23
Q

Even though Elizabeth hired John Casimir to help the Dutch, England and Spain were not officially at war. Why was this?

A

• the fact that Casimir’s forces were volunteers led by a mercenary meant that Elizabeth was not officially sending an English army to fight the Spanish in her name

  • hence they were not officially at war.
24
Q

Why were Privy councillors, like the Earl of Leicester, urgining Elizabeth to intervene in the Netherlands directly?

A

• in 1578, the situation there was potentially promising enough for a complete Dutch victory
• An independent Netherlands would be a strong, Protestant ally for England against Spain

25
Q

what circumstances in 1584, made England’s situation even more hazardous concerning the Netherlands?

A

• 10th June 1584 = Duke of Alencon died

  • 10th July 1584 = William of Orange assassinated
26
Q

Why was the death of Duke of Alencon a problem?

A

• he could no longer fight the Spanish in the Netherlands
• although France’s new heir to the throne, Henri of Navarre was a protestant, leading French Catholics formed a catholic League to stop him
• it led to a religious war in France, meaning it was too unstable to be a useful ally to England

27
Q

Why was the death of William of Orange a problem?

A

William of Orange was the leader of the Dutch Protestant rebels
• it showed how easy it was for a leader like Elizabeth to be assassinated
• Dutch protestants needed a leader and looked to Elizabeth. She did not want this role as she could be seen as trying to overthrow Phillip II
• without a leader, the Dutch rebels could be defeated by Spin, leaving England as Phillip Il’s next target

28
Q

When was the treaty of Joinville signed and who was it signed by?
What did the treaty of Joinville do?

A

1584 by the French Catholic League - secured Phillip Il’s help against French protestants

29
Q

When did the King of France sign up to the Catholic League’s aim of ridding heresy?

A

1585

30
Q

What did the treaty of Joinville and the Catholic League effectively mean?

A

that Catholic France and Spain were now allies against Protestantism - Elizabeth had to take action